The Blues looked the better of the two sides for large periods of the top-of-the-table clash at Twickenham on Saturday, but it was the Tigers who took their opportunities to run out 16-6 winners.

A runaway try to Mathew Lyons plus a fortuitous bounce leading to Damian Willis' match winner proved to be the different between the two rivals in front of a bumper crowd.

Gundagai coach Adam Perry wasn't thrilled with the win, especially after their performance to down Southcity 34-0 leading into the bye.

"It wasn't our greatest game but it was a tough effort by the boys," Perry said.

"We did a great job of hanging in there and turned the tide after a poor start."

However he thought there was plenty of merit after losing captain Luke Berkrey (sternum) and centre Seb Cottam (back), in the process of saving a Jason Webb try, throughout the clash.

Berkrey came off second best trying to make a tackle and walked off after Dean Bristow opened the scoring for Tumut after 13 minutes.

Gundagai were quick to answer as Lyons went 60 metres down the sideline to score four minutes later.

They hit the front with 15 minutes left in the half as Cottam scored following a mistake from Jed Pearce 30 metres out from his line.

Austin McDougall then blew a great opportunity to hit back for the Blues with four minutes remaining, dropping the ball metres out from the line.

It was the story of the day for the Blues who saw two more opportunities to Webb fail to come off on the opposite wing.

They also had a Todd Broad try denied over a forward pass.

Injured co-coach Adam Pearce believes his team isn't far off the benchmark set by the Tigers.

"I thought we were the better team for a lot of that game but execution just let us down," Pearce said.

"A couple of disallowed tries in the second half could have changed the game but at other times we dropped the ball when we had chances to score."

While Tumut didn't take many of their opportunities, it was the opposite case for the premiers who capitalised on the few they had.

"We didn't get a heap (of opportunities) and they probably had better field position but we made the most of them and I thought the boys did a good job of playing the right plays at the right time," Perry said.

Tumut's late rally wasn't helped by the sin binning of hooker Lachlan Bristow, who was given his marching orders alongside Gundagai prop Joel Field.

The incident saw Willis be denied a try only for the veteran centre to score two minutes later and force the Blues to wait at least another few months to end their nine-year drought against Gundagai.

Gundagai now still three points clear of the ladder at the midway point of the season.

They tackle Albury, the only team they are yet to beat this season, next Sunday while Tumut face Brothers.

While you're with us, did you know that The Daily Advertiser is now offering sports and local events as part of its growing email newsletter service? Sign up here.